


The Staircase

by hchannibloom (bleepin_ufo)



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 14:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5166821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleepin_ufo/pseuds/hchannibloom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alana goes to Florence to confront Hannibal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Staircase

With her slow and painful recovery, Alana had had a lot of time to think about things. About Hannibal. About her feelings for him. They were complicated and it took many months for her to tease them out.

Now she found herself in Rome airport, navigating her way through swathes of people to make her connecting flight to Florence.

It was Jack who had called her. He had been a frequent visitor to her bedside, assuring her that he would find Hannibal and make him wear the responsibilities of his actions.

It had been a comfort to Alana, though perhaps not for the right reasons. Hannibal had left her for dead, splayed on the pavement outside his home. He could have killed her but he didn’t. She wondered endlessly if there had been meaning behind that non-action. Or if she simply hadn’t been worth Hannibal’s attention any longer.

She had been grappling with other difficult emotions as well. Despite herself she missed Hannibal – he had been an ardent and attentive lover, evidently his sensual enjoyment extended past the culinary. Had it really all been a lie? Some days she wished she could be blind to his flaws again. To be safe in his arms. She was ashamed of those thoughts. But they kept her going, knowing Jack would find him and she could confront Hannibal about her thoughts.

And now here she was, she just hadn’t decided if it was to bring Hannibal to justice or to fall back into his arms.

Jack briefed her on the situation, where Hannibal was working, what his cover identity was, and the stern reminder to stay out of the way and let him do his job. That last point, Alana ignored.

Once she managed to ditch Jack for the afternoon she set off on her own. Her heart sank as she entered The Palazzo. The staircase looked insurmountable to her, even in her sensible heels. But she had no choice but to scale it.

Alana managed the first twenty steps with minimal discomfort, but after that every step sent shooting pain up her spine. By the time she got halfway she was in tears. Doubt started to creep into her mind. She had to be mad, chasing down a serial killer alone because why? Because she loved him?

She collapsed on the step, burying her head in her hands and sobbing. She decided to rest a moment, in the hope she could make it to the top.

Hannibal had had a productive day at work and was looking forward to his dinner. Bedelia was away in France for the week and he was enjoying the opportunity to spend even more time in the kitchen than usual. He was not prepared for what was waiting for him on the stairs when he left his office. A familiar form, one his hands knew as intimately as his eyes.

“I knew Jack was here, and Will, but I didn’t dare hope you would be too” he said, slowly moving down the stairwell. He saw Alana’s face was red and tearstained “This isn’t some kind of honey trap?” He asked.

Alana snorted with laughter through her tears and with the aid of her cane, pulled herself to her feet. She let Hannibal look at her new stiffened stance for a full minute. “I’m broken, Hannibal, thanks to Abigail. Thanks to you. If I wanted to entrap you I wouldn’t do it in a building with more stairs than the Eiffel Tower.”

“So if not to catch me, why are you here Alana?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

“I wish I knew” she shook her head “I just needed to see you. Goddamnit I know it’s crazy but I missed you. And I needed to know why. Why you didn’t kill me when you had the chance.”

“You brought me pleasure. Intellectual, sexual and even emotional. I was not about to snuff out someone with the kind of spark that could get through to me.”

“What was I to you?” Alana searched his eyes with her own. “Did you ever really care about me or was I just some light entertainment.”

Hannibal chuckled “You want to know if I was in love with you”

“Well, were you?”

Hannibal looked away from her searching gaze for a moment. “Do you think I can love anyone, Alana? My life is solitary by necessity.”

“Jack says you’re living with someone, you say she’s your wife” There was hurt in Alana’s voice.

“Bedelia” He said by way of explanation “She also brings me pleasure, though to a lesser degree. She is more like me than you are. We understand one another.” He could see his words were hurting Alana. “You came here because you think you’re in love with me.”

Alana didn’t try to deny it “Was I wrong to do so? I had to know, Hannibal. I’ve had a lot of time to think. What we had made me feel more alive than I have in years. Life is short. I don’t want to spend it without you. You’re a monster, Hannibal, but you’re my monster.”

“Then you know that I can never love you. Not the way you love me, and certainly not the way you need me to.”

“I don’t care” Alana whispered “Maybe what we have is unconventional but you can’t deny it’s there.”

Hannibal paused, glancing around him as the cogs in his mind turned. “Very well. But I make you no promises.”

Alana smiled and hobbled up the remaining steps between them. When she reached him, Hannibal opened his arms to her, wrapping her against his chest. Alana shed a tear of joy. She was home.


End file.
